CONCORD, N.C. – Kevin Harvick may have won the pole for Saturday night's Bank of America 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway (7 p.m. ET on NBC, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), but Alex Bowman continued to open eyes as a substitute driver in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.
Touring the 1.5-mile speedway in 27.547 seconds (196.029 mph), Harvick knocked Bowman (196.000 mph) off the pole by a scant .004 seconds in the final round of Thursday evening’s knockout qualifying.
The pole was Harvick's first at Charlotte, his first of the 2016 season and the 16th of his career.
"It was good in (Turns) 1 and 2, but I felt like I gave up a little something in (Turns) 3 and 4 coming to the checkered," Harvick said of his lap in the money round. "This has just been a fun car to drive today. Hopefully we can get it dialed in race trim."
Where Harvick gave up speed in the final two corners, Bowman likely lost the pole in the first two turns, where he drifted up the track slightly and scrubbed off just enough speed to fall short of Harvick by the minute fraction of a second.
Nevertheless, driving in place of Dale Earnhardt Jr. in six of the last seven races of the season while Earnhardt recovers from a concussion, Bowman stole the show.
"The Showman Bowman was fast tonight," Earnhardt tweeted after the final round. "Great job @AlexBRacing and @AxaltaRacing gang. P2 @CLTMotorSpdwy."
Bowman, the fastest of the non-Chase drivers in time trials, recently posted his career-best NASCAR Sprint Cup Series finish, a 10th at Chicagoland Speedway. Though Bowman continues to show excellent speed as a substitute, he has no definite plans for next year.
But he came tantalizingly close to a monumental achievement on Thursday night.
"Honestly, we didn't put the greatest lap together," said Bowman, who ran the fastest lap of the day in the second round (196.200 mph). "In (Turns) 1 and 2, we were a little free in (into the corner) and didn't really keep it on the bottom like I needed to.
"Turns 3 and 4 were really good. It means so much for Hendrick Motorsports to take a chance on me for these races. I'm really thankful to be here. I hate that we didn’t get the pole. We were so close. It's definitely my best starting spot by a bunch, but you'd always like that pole."
Chase drivers claimed eight of the top-12 starting positions, with Chase Elliott qualifying third, Kyle Busch fourth, Martin Truex Jr., seventh, Carl Edwards eighth, Denny Hamlin ninth, Joey Logano 10th and Jimmie Johnson 11th.
Chase drivers Matt Kenseth (17th), Austin Dillon (19th), Brad Keselowski (20th) and Kurt Busch (23rd) failed to advance to the final round.
"I don't think anybody knew that we could go as fast as Bowman went in that second round," Edwards said. "That kind of raised the stakes for everyone."
Notes: Danica Patrick will start 13th, her second-best effort this year after qualifying 11th at Sonoma in June. Patrick just missed advancing to the final round; Johnson edged her for the 12th and final position by .012 seconds… Hendrick Motorsports continued to show improved speed, putting all four of its cars in the top 12 (with Kasey Kahne in 12th joining Bowman, Elliott and Johnson). Hendrick-powered cars claimed four of the top five spots on the grid, with Harvick on the pole and Tony Stewart fifth.
Coors Light Pole Qualifying is the next scheduled Sprint Cup event at 7:20 p.m. ET (NBCSN/NBC Sports App). The next Sprint Cup practice session is scheduled for Friday at 3:30 p.m. ET (NBCSN, NBC Sports App).
Logano is also the defending race winner of next weekend's stop at Kansas Speedway.
A week later, when the series rolls into Talladega? Yep, Logano will be the defending race winner there, too.
His sweep of last year's Round of 12 in the NASCAR Chase for the Sprint Cup
was remarkable. In addition to earning Logano the right to advance to
the following round, the sweep also kept others from doing the same. For
everyone except Logano, crew chief Todd Gordon and the No. 22 team, the
round suddenly became a three-race points battle.
"Last year
we talked a lot about not making mistakes in the first round," Logano
said earlier this week. "I feel like we were able to do that last year.
"This round coming up, (it) was obviously incredible sweeping it. We want to be able to do that again, right?"
The elimination element has only been a part of the Chase format since
2014. Winning consecutive Chase races isn't unheard of, but Logano has
been the only driver to do it under the current format. Tony Stewart won five of 10 Chase races en route to the title in 2011; Jimmie Johnson won three in a row in '04, then four straight in '07.
Outside of another sweep, choice No. 2 for Logano and his team would be
to win one of the first two races in the round, anything that would
guarantee a spot in the Round of 8. Hopefully before the round-ending
stop at wildcard Talladega.
"Winning one of these next two
races before Talladega, we all know, is very important," he said. "You
won't get much sleep if you don't.
"These next two races, a
lot of times we talk about them as the most important races in the Chase
because in this round someone always gets knocked out that has a chance
and is a threat. … Someone that you think you're going to see in the
final four most likely is going to get knocked out in this round.
Because there have been unknowns in each race … you never know what's
going to happen.
"We have to go out there and race
aggressively; that's the way the 22 car races and we're not going to
change that. But I think also eliminating mistakes and execution becomes
key."
Logano managed three top-10 finishes in the opening
round a year ago before going on his second-round tear. The results have
been similar this time around, which, according to Logano, has been
according to plan.
"The first round, Todd has preached to me
and to the whole team, I think at least a thousand times -- base hits,"
he said. "And we did that.
"We had a second, an 11th and a
sixth which would be in the base-hit category, which gets you through to
the next round. And that's the goal. The goal is to get through rounds
and get to Homestead and race for a championship.
"As the Chase goes on, base hits don't do it anymore. You've got to be hitting some … triples and home runs.
"I think we're ready for that."
Saturday's Bank of America 500 is scheduled for a 7 p.m. ET start (NBCSN, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR).
NASCAR officials said they are closely monitoring the track of Hurricane Matthew ahead of Saturday night's race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. No decision has been made that would potentially alter the status of Saturday night's Bank of America 500 (7 p.m. ET, NBC, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), the fourth event in the 10-race Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup playoffs.
Weather outlooks for Thursday's
on-track activity are encouraging, but rain is currently forecast Friday
and early Saturday, according to the National Weather Service. The next
race in the XFINITY Series Chase -- the Drive for the Cure 300 Presented by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of NC -- is scheduled for Friday (8 p.m. ET, NBCSN, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). As of noon ET Thursday, Matthew
was a Category 4 hurricane lashing the Bahamas and threatening landfall
on Florida's Eastern coastline. Hurricane warnings stretched from just
north of Miami to southern South Carolina. Charlotte Motor Speedway
is located in Concord, North Carolina, roughly 200 miles inland. The
latest proposed track for the storm projects a looping course away from
North Carolina, which could spare the state from the brunt of its
damage. The looming hurricane leaves
teams plotting strategies for Thursday's on-track action, particularly
the first afternoon practice. "I feel like we're going to race Saturday night, but you never know with the weather," Martin Truex Jr. said. "We're definitely going to do a little race trim (Thursday), which is uncharacteristic for our group."
Daytona International Speedway,
located in the heart of the storm's potential route, faces a more
imminent hurricane threat. The 2.5-mile track closed its track tour and
ticketing operations Thursday and Friday in advance of the worsening
weather in Daytona Beach, Florida. The National Weather Service's
Thursday morning forecast for Daytona and its vicinity called Matthew
the strongest hurricane to affect Florida's eastern central region in
decades. "We are working closely with
local officials here in Volusia County and throughout the region to
monitor Hurricane Matthew and to ensure that our facility is as secured
as possible," track officials said in a statement. "While it is too
early to predict the effect and exact path of the storm, our team has
prepared extensively for weather systems such as this and our emergency
safety procedures are in place." Atlanta Motor Speedway
is doing its part to help with the relief efforts. The 1.54-mile
Georgia track has opened its campgrounds as a free-of-charge refuge for
storm evacuees.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- The good vibes were easy to feel as one pink shirt after another crowded around the Charlotte Motor Speedway Victory Lane and pit road, where NASCAR stars mingled with breast cancer survivors and their families.
Six-time Sprint Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson
joined United States soccer legend Mia Hamm greeting people and
ultimately delivering encouraging words to the crowd of nearly 500
gathered to kick off October's Breast Cancer Awareness campaign. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of
North Carolina -- for whom Johnson and Hamm are "ambassadors" -- along
with the track brought everyone together to paint the speedway's pit
wall pink in a visible reminder of this disease that has affected so
many people on some level. "The NASCAR industry has always
been so supportive of these kind of causes and teams have adopted the
pink color for October for years," the No. 48 Lowe's Chevrolet driver
Johnson explained between posing for photos, painting the pit wall pink
and delivering an inspiring message to those attending. "We have pink
trim on our hats and it's been on race cars. The support has been there.
It's important to be a part of this and raise awareness. "The great thing is if you detect
it early there really is something you can do about it. And this event
also raises awareness for kids so they grow up knowing it's a priority.
As a father (of two young girls), that's definitely something on my
radar." Drivers Elliott Sadler, Blake Koch and Jeb Burton
were also among the sport's stars there generously offering a friendly
smile or gentle hug to survivors and greeting others who came to show
support for family members and friends. These drivers are all too
familiar with the devastating effects of this disease because their
mothers have fought through diagnosis and treatment. Being trackside with so many
people who care was a transformative event for so many patients, who for
at least one morning could take a deep breath and replace their pain
and worry with the feeling of gratitude and hope. And that is the whole reason
behind this. Drivers who spend their weekends so tense and focused were
at the track last Wednesday able to show how much they genuinely care,
just in taking the time to be there, posing for a photo or sharing a
paintbrush dripping pink. "This is very personal to me and my family," said XFINITY
Series Chase participant Sadler. "To see what our NASCAR community does
for breast cancer awareness, for all the pink race cars, the uniforms,
the pink trophies, the pink pace car and Charlotte Motor Speedway
taking it a step further today. Look at all the breast cancer survivors
we have here today. To paint the wall means so much to people affected
by it. "This is by far my mom's favorite
race of the year, by far all because we get to run a pink car. I have
an amazing sponsor, OneMain Financial, that lets me run a pink car for
this race giving up their colors. What I've learned from my mom and
other breast cancer survivors, this is their race. They've been through
so much, this is a celebration of life, a time to forget about the bad
and cherish the good. And that is a neat concept and a neat way to look
at it." Driver Jeb Burton's
mother Tabitha is another breast cancer patient. She and I were
diagnosed at similar times and have been supportive of one another while
going through painful treatment and navigating the reality of this
disease. "She went through a lot and it's
definitely hit home for us," said Burton who will drive the No. 98
Biagi-DenBeste Ford in Friday's XFINITY Series race at Charlotte. "This is a great cause and I'm thankful to be out here and paint the wall pink. Hopefully we can find a cure soon." That is certainly the hope behind the easy smiles and loving hugs we all shared that day. RELATED: Battling cancer, NASCAR.com writer finds strength in numbers In the year since I finished my
own harsh chemotherapy and radiation, I have lost a half dozen "chemo"
friends to this disease. Some I was still too sick to attend their
funerals. The NASCAR community suffered
incredibly sad losses to cancer in the last year including 10-year old
Elijah Aschbrenner to Epithelioid Sarcoma cancer last November and Scott
Zipadelli's 19-year old step-daughter Torie Costa to the disease
(Rhabdomyosarcoma) last Christmas Day. Steve Byrnes, a popular
broadcaster and my friend, passed away from cancer in April 2015; and
another friend, longtime NASCAR journalist Bob Margolis, lost his
three-time cancer battle just weeks ago. Sherry Pollex, the longtime girlfriend of Sprint Cup Series points leader Martin Truex Jr., has battled ovarian cancer for the past two years. Today, one of my dear friends is
having breast cancer surgery. The follow-up and treatment of the disease
afterward remains unknown at this point. Her children attend middle
school with my daughter. And she was one of the people who immediately
and lovingly cared for me and for my children when I was too sick to
function during my own chemo. She brought dinner and comfort to us even
when I was too sick to answer the door. And now her diagnosis feels like a punch in the gut, such a cruel twist. It's my turn to be her source of
strength and optimism. So many people cared when I was at my sickest.
And now it's an opportunity for me to be there for them. I am aware like I've never been
before. This disease has a way of humbling you and simultaneously
motivating you to be a better person. It opens your mind to think more
broadly, to act more swiftly. To realize you can care more. When I left Charlotte last week
after the event at the track I was full of gratitude, it was as if I had
received a present for my soul. And judging by the smiles, hugs, even
tears shared among the group, it was widespread feeling and greatly
appreciated. "These amazing women, their
stories and their fight, honoring them and their families and obviously
the women that have passed, too," Hamm said of her time at the
speedway. "It's important to continue telling their story of hope
and determination and really empowering these women that are here to be
proactive in their health. That's one of the reasons I feel so strongly
to be a Blue Cross Blue Shield ambassador. It's really about empowering
them to take care of themselves." "This is one of the wonderful
things that all the hard work I did in my career was able to do -- to
inspire people. And in the end you pass it off to this incredible
(NASCAR) race that millions of people will be watching to help spread
the message of continued work and awareness for breast cancer." By the end of the morning, it was truly, truly difficult to tell who was being motivated and who was doing the motivating. And what an incredibly positive feeling to carry on.
